I used the laser several hours today, everything was fine but, then it started having problems with the y-axis.
It works fine when it's back, within 30 mm or so of the x-axis. When it moves further forward than that, the y-axis starts jittering and stops moving, losing steps. I can move the belt by hand and it feels normal.
If I move the x-axis another 100 mm or so further, the y-axis starts working again.
There's nothing on the belt or interfering with the motor gears.
There appears to be an area between 30 and 130 mm off the x-axis where the y-axis does not step correctly.
When I move the x-axis front to back, there is a pop sound that appears to be at the limit between the area where it does work OK and where it doesn't. It's consistent over several trials.
The move speed is set at 80 mm/s. I've tried resetting the controller and power cycling the system and the problem persists.
Any suggestions on where to look next?
Does the problem persist after you let everything cool down?
If you can move everything around without issue when the power is off I would take a close look at the motor lead wires.
Yes, after letting it sit, powered off, for several hours it still 'jitters'.
I did a cursory look for loose connections or strain on the wires when the x-axis moved through the problem area, nothing found.
If it’s not mechanical or temperature or loose wiring then It must be components: motor drive or controller. You can move motors and drives around and see if the problem follows. Not sure how either one would have bad zones since they don’t know where they are.
A bad controller would be harder to swap out. Could run different designs and see if it changes.
This could also be the result of electrical noise due to poor grounding. USB connections from a computer for example.
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stepper motor jitters
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